


When Sheldon Met Penny

by thisisonlineright



Series: Alternate Universe Oneshots [5]
Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Mirrorverse, Bernadette has a foul mouth, F/M, First fic of 2015, OOC, Parallel Universe Travel, Shenny 2015, weird style of writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-06
Updated: 2015-01-06
Packaged: 2018-03-06 08:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3127823
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thisisonlineright/pseuds/thisisonlineright
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It takes more than a different universe for him to realize what he wants. / Oneshot</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Sheldon Met Penny

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so, this was supposed to be my last fic of 2014 (I also had a new year fic in mind but took too much time with this) but I got too distracted by manga I read that was updated and—my main cause of distraction since I was 7—the Sims 4. That game totally consumes my life. I also contemplated making this into a short multi-chapt fic, but meh. 
> 
> Oh and happy 2015!
> 
> Extreme OOC, sloppy intentional writing and unanswered questions.

As always, everything starts with an argument between him and Penny.

"—I'm just trying to help you!"

"No, what you're doing is bothering me! Why is it so hard for you to understand that you're a nuisance?!"

"A nuisance?! I apologized—I'm trying to fix it!"

"You're ruining everything! Will you please just get out? Now?"

"I'm sorry—"

"Now! And you wonder why I constantly regret Leonard ever saying hi to you."

"Fine. I'm leaving."

It always starts with an argument between them—her interfering with their lives and him just trying to get some peace and quiet. He'll never understand why Penny just had to come over to bother him when he was busy doing something  _ground breaking._ Something revolutionary… something—

— _broken_ —

—and as always, he has to fix it.

Both his Parallel Multidimensional Transporter  _and_  his now (somewhat) broken friendship with their neighbor. The former mandatory, and the latter being Leonard begging him to apologize to her—after she refused to apologize to him for ruining his invention—or else he would call his mother.

If Penny had just kept her hands to herself then he wouldn't need to do either. It's always like this and he wishes that there is a way for him to modify Penny's traits. If there is, he can change all of her annoying habits and make her useful. Like taking away her love of eating with her mouth full and implanting a chip that replaces it with table manners.

He can think of how to do that  _after_  he fixes this confounded machine that said pesky blonde destroyed. Sometimes he just really wishes that he never met her.

Two hours and six cups of (icky) coffee later, he screws in the final bolt to close the panel. If this machine works—

—the  _endless_  possibilities—

—then he can finally get that Nobel he'd been wanting since… well, since forever. He can see which Sheldon has won it already; which one has proved String Theory, which one is the disappointment by becoming an engineer ( _endless possibilities_ ) which is the one made out of candy, which one is fortunate enough to not have met Penny—

He takes a step back—admiring his invention—and turns it on. The little power indicator flashes brightly and he takes it as his cue to strap on the protective harness (you can never be too careful) on his left wrist. He switches his camera on to record his first attempt at crossing over to an alternate dimension.

"This is Dr. Sheldon Cooper, recording my first cross-dimension travel," he says, looking straight at the camera. "Today is December 2nd, and I am currently at the homeland. There is no assurance that this camera will travel with me—as I originally intended—but due to some minor mishaps, I may be the only one to be able to travel. Nevertheless, this will video alone will greatly contribute to studies regarding the multi-worlds theory."

The transporter dings, he inputs the timer—for when he will be forced to return to this universe just in case that something goes wrong—then takes a deep breath. "Warp speed ahead."

There's a loud, spinning sound coming from the transporter as the headgear starts buzzing—

"—Sheldon, what the hell is—"

— _and_ —

—everything is dark and all he can feel is the throbbing of his head. He feels like he's been hit by a bunch of bricks (literally) and it takes about half a minute before his hearing returns.

"—okay? What the hell happened?"

"I don't know! He just fell… from the sky. God, that sounds so stupid."

"Should we call someone? No—I'm such an idiot. I'll dial 911 right now—"

"Wait, don't. They might think that we did this. We should wait for him to tell us what happened first before doing anything drastic."

"Drastic? He fell out of the freaking sky!"

"Yeah, but they might blame us!"

"Stupid plan. But, fine."

He slowly opens his eyes and sees two yellow blurs standing near his feet. They pace in front of him, the first blur mouthing off and the second blur standing completely still, noticing that he finally regained consciousness. "Hey, hey! I think he's waking up!"

The two crouch down beside him, his vision clearing as he recognizes them.

"Mister," blur two starts, a worried expression on her face, "are you alright?"

"Where the hell did you come from?" Blur one snarls as he sits up with a pained groan, "you landed on her car, you little fuc—"

"—language! If he turns out to be an alien we'll be screwed if you make him mad!"

"Seriously? Aliens?"

Both the back of his head and his back hurts and he theorizes that it's because of his fall. Next time, he'll add in some sort of protective padding for his entire body. What's the point of inventing a Parallel Dimension Transporter if he dies and never relishes the acclaim of doing the impossible? That makes him a foolish, bumbling idiot if that happens.

"P-enny," he hisses as he rubs the back of his neck, "Bernadette… where am I?" The two blondes exchange a look (surprise for Penny and creeped out for Bernadette) before glancing back at him.

It's Penny—who  _looks_  absolutely the same—who speaks. "How do you know our names?"

"Are you a fucking stalker?" Bernadette snaps with a scowl. Now this is an interesting sight—this Bernadette is the complete opposite of the one he knows. She doesn't wear glasses, or the multilayered dresses or speaks gently unless angered. This one swears as frequently as possible, wears a leather jacket, has heavy make up on and looks as if she's something that came out of Wolowitz's perverted fantasies. "Penny, I think he's a fucking stalker."

Penny frowns at her and whispers, "aliens, remember? I don't want to get tested on!" Bernadette huffs and his not-neighbor turns back to face him. "So, yeah, how do you know our names and what happened to you?"

He can't just tell them that he's from an alternate dimension where they both worked at the Cheesecake Factory and are his friends. That will make him sound crazy (his mother had him tested) and he has no plans of getting arrested. There's no Leonard to pick him up and he isn't even sure where his counterpart is, or if he even has one. Well, if things get bad, he could always—

—there, on his right, sits his headpiece; a giant crack in the middle of the power light.

Crap.

He searches his chest and is relieved when he feels the firm fabric of his vest. There's still a chance that he will be able to return to his dimension if he has this on since this is also attached to the machine. The questions is; what travelled, his body… or his soul? He really should have thought this through every detail. If only he hadn't been so frustrated to have tried it out—

"I heard you calling each other that," he lies, looking away to avoid the chance of him slipping. "You were even talking about calling 911, but decided against it."

Bernadette looks unimpressed but Penny shrugs it off. "Ah, okay. Are you alright?" She reaches out to help him out and he instantly moves back, causing his back to ache and Penny's eyes to widen. "I'm sorry—I just wanted to help."

He looks up, ready to snap at her about his personal space, but decides against it when he sees genuine concern on her face. She may look  _exactly_  like his Penny but he has yet to find out if they are alike personality wise. As of now, it seems that this Penny is a bit more reserved than he is used to. "It's okay, I'm fine. My head hurts, though."

Standing, he gives her a small smile (he has to be friendly, he is a foreigner in a foreign universe—he can't afford to be too cocky) and Bernadette scoffs. "Yeah, now answer the question; how the hell did you fall from the sky and land on her Prius!"

A Prius, he thinks, that is certainly an upgrade from her annoying scrap metal car. "I don't remember—" if they leave him, he'll be lost "—anything. I'm not sure how I got here, but I do know who I am."

Penny raises her eyebrows, "and you are?"

If he tells them that he's a physicist, they'll ask him where he works and there is no assurance that the Sheldon here—if there even is one; he isn't sure if he will only be transported to universes that he exists in or (terrifyingly, there  _is_  a possibility) to one where he  _doesn't_  exist—is a physicist or a hobo. Worse case scenario is that the CIA arrests him and… the endless possibilities makes him want to vomit.

"I am Sheldon… Allen," he internally cringes at the tacky pseudonym, but he has to do it—just in case that they ever meet his counterpart and he's stuck here. That could ruin the space time continuum. "Nice to meet you."

His not-neighbor flashes him a bright smile that is a hundred percent Penny. "Well, I'm Penny and this profanity loving ray of sunshine is my best friend-slash-roommate, Bernadette."

The so-called 'ray of sunshine' (maybe the Bernadette in his universe, but not this one) purses her lips and unwillingly extends her hand out to him. "Nice to meet you, buster."

He takes a deep, deep (deep, deep,  _deep_ ) breath and—in order to not chase them away—shakes her hand. This is a different universe (his existence is merely an assumption based on who he was in another) and drastic times call for drastic measures. He cannot afford to chase away his only source of basic information. There might not be a Google here.

"Likewise—" he pulls away and ignores the pain in his back; going to the hospital requires information and everything he knows might not be real "—uh, where am I?"

"At the parking area of Tournament Park in Pasadena," Penny explains, causing a wave of relief to wash over him. There is a Pasadena, there is a Caltech—which manages the park—and there  _is_  a California. Maybe this universe is more parallel than he thought in terms of geography. That will certainly make it easier for him if he is stuck here. "Hey, we're about to get some lunch—" Bernadette vigorously shakes her head "—and I'm sure you haven't eaten yet, would you like to join us?"

Generosity and the kindness of inviting him (and he assumes that she will be paying) to eat. That is already an obvious difference between her and his Penny; Penny never paid for food. All she does is mooch off of them. He picks up his head gear and places it inside the pocket of his vest; they shouldn't be kept apart. "That sounds great, thank you."

Bernadette mutters something under her breath as they walk to Penny's car and points to the hood. "See that dent?" He does. "You caused that, you punk."

"Bernadette!" Penny groans, opening the car door, "it's minuscule and he didn't do it on purpose. I'll just get fixed over the weekend."

This Penny has money. Fascinating. "I'll pay for that—" he pauses; he has his wallet (he made sure of it, in case that the world wasn't too unique) but he isn't sure if dollars are the currency here "—dollars, right?"

Bernadette glares and shakes her head, "seriously? Of course, we use dollars. Does this look like Italy? Honestly, you're fucking creeping me out." She snorts, gets in the passenger side and even from outside he hears her say, "Penny and her stupid lack of fucking judgement."

Penny sends him a sympathetic smile and moves to open the door for him. "Don't mind her, she often wakes up on the wrong side of the bed. I'm actually thinking of buying her a new bed for her birthday because of it. Come on, I'm hungry—and I promise to pay."

There's something about the way she smiles at him that makes him automatically slide into the backseat—

—he's already starting to like this Penny.

* * *

They take him to lunch at— _of course_ —the Cheesecake Factory where he learns a little bit more about this world he fell in.

Nothing has really changed from the reality he knows aside from a few irrelevant details such as Kim Kardashian being an Oscar winning actress (who'da thunk?) and Brangelina—who he discovers are two people and that Penny still loves gossip—isn't together in this world. Other than those useless information, everything's the same. Oh, and he discovers that his credit card magically works in this world. Very useful.

He also learns that in this world, Penny finished college and works as a paralegal. She's still from Nebraska, but moved when she got a job and met Bernadette—who, despite her foul mouth and grunge appearance, is  _still_  a microbiologist. They've been best friends since  _forever_  (same old Penny) and share an apartment at—drum roll—Apartment 4A, 2311 Los Robles.

Fascinating or absolutely crazy, he isn't sure.

What he is sure of, is that he needs somewhere to stay while he tries to remake the PMT. Good thing he has enough money (thank goodness he remembered to bring money) for anything he needs because— _surprise, surprise_ —the apartment right across from them is available to rent. Like some sort of odd twist.

He agrees to check out the apartment, thanks to Penny's prodding and despite Bernadette's constant remarks, and soon finds himself standing in front of the apartment building he's lived in for practically half of his life. This universe is certainly more parallel than he initially thought.

"Have a seat," Penny gestures to the blue green (really?!) sofa in the middle of his— _their_  apartment as they enter apartment 4A. "I already called the manager to show you the apartment and he said that he'll be here in a bit."

At least 4A looks different. It's more feminine than their 4A (of course) and is actually a bit less cluttered than his apartment. It's like 4B, except bigger. He takes in his surroundings as he takes a seat at what should be his spot. "Alright. You have a nice apartment."

Penny grins from the kitchen that looks exactly like theirs. They have food. Penny rarely has actual food in her fridge. Interesting. "Thanks! Bernadette chose everything, actually. I just chose the art. Hey, do you want anything? Water? Tea?"

"Somewhere else to go?" snarks Bernadette from her armchair. He definitely likes his universe's Bernadette better. This one is just too mean.

"I'm fine, thank you," he says, throwing a glare at the ray of darkness. "You've already done so much for me." Which is true, this Penny has already done so much for him than his Penny has ever had in the multiple years that he knew her. She paid for their meal, offered the apartment, gave him a ride and even offered him money. He's actually already starting to  _really_  like this Penny.

"Moocher," the less favorable blonde snorts and he wonders how long he'll be stuck here with this one. "You should be grateful that Penny has poor judgement and trusted someone as suspicious as you. You could be a rapist or a serial killer for all we know—"

Penny drops a bottle of water on her roommate's lap and sends her a look of disapproval. "Bernadette, come on, give the guy a break. He fell from god-knows-where and can't remember anything." She moves to the couch and takes a seat beside him, "don't mind her, she's just cranky. Like always."

There's something about the way that this Penny smiles at him that makes him ease up. This Penny is such a delight that he wishes that when he gets back— _if_  he gets back—he can exchange this Penny for the one he has—

— _had_ —

—and leave that one here. They're practically the same person, except for a few minor (major) changes. Or maybe if he's able to invent the machine to change people's traits, he'll input this Penny's traits into the other one. He can make that Penny better, improve her so that she won't be annoying—

—and oddly, that doesn't sound as good as he originally thought. Nevertheless, it's a thought that shall be brought up at a later time. What he needs to think about now is how he's going to recreate the PMT and somehow manage to fit in to this world that he knows both everything and nothing about. History might be the same, but that doesn't make this world the one he belongs to.

One episode of America's Next Top Model (he snorts at the fact that not only does that show exist in this world but also at the fact that this Penny also watches it) two rude 'moocher' remarks from Bernadette—now he knows how Penny feels—and a mug of Quik later the manager finally arrives (same stumpy man) and shows him the Penniless 4B. He's a little more than relieved when he has more than enough money to get the apartment.

He pays a months worth of rent and starts planning his next set of actions. He'll first buy a few pieces of furniture (a bed, a desk and a chair) before working on a replica of the PMT. He can't act too suspicious around the two roommates if he wants to get some help from them—i.e. showing him where the shops are and driving him around.

He needs to build a prototype of the PMT as quickly as he can before he runs out of resources—

—he doesn't want to think about the possibility of him getting stuck in this world.

* * *

It's four agonizing days later when he manages to recreate the basic structure of the PMT.

Luckily, the materials he used to make the first one is shockingly easy to find compared to the four month ordering process he went through to order a single piece of metal. That's probably the first difference (aside from the people) he noticed from his world; this world isn't as polluted as the one he belongs to and has an abundance of everything that is gone from his world.

He's working on the mainframe when he hears a knock on his door. His apartment is still pretty much bare and he hasn't left since he got the necessary materials he needed. He often tells himself that he coops himself in 4B because he doesn't want to get too attached to this world. He can't and he won't—that's final.

"I've noticed that you haven't left your apartment in four days," is what Penny says once he opens the door and she barges in. "So, I decided to come over and bring some food." She shoves a paper bag in his hands then plops down on the couch. "You might not be eating and that worries me."

This Penny is actually quite thoughtful, he thinks as he inspects the contents of the bag. Greek food. Eck. Well, it is a change from his interchanging menu of Chinese and pizza. As much as he'd love to eat some Thai food or something different, he can't afford to waste time trying to find the restaurants, inspecting their credibility and picking the food up.

Four days is a long time when you're stuck in an alternate universe where you have no clue on what tomorrow awaits for you. This time, he can't rely on the math or any type of calculations to tell him what can and might happen. He knows too little about this world to be able to predict anything, and that thought alone makes him regret doing this.

He wants to get back to his own reality.

"Thank you for the food, but I'll save it for later," he says, placing the container on the table. He'll reheat it when he gets hungry; he literally can't afford to be picky with the temperature and freshness of his food. "Oh, and I'm fine. No need to worry."

It occurs to him that this Penny takes it to herself to check on him at least once a day. There hasn't been a day that she hadn't visited him and it's a refreshing change from his Penny who's annoying in every way. This Penny has yet to annoy him, and he hopes that it stays that way.

He returns to his desk to continue working on the mainframe and ignores the fact that she's staring at him. "Maybe if you step out of this hell hole every now and then, I won't really have to worry. Hey, what's that you're making?"

This oddly feels like deja vu. "It's for an experiment I'm going to do."

"Ah."

"Yes, ah." He glances at her over his shoulder and sees that she's still staring at him. Hmm.

"So…"

"So… what?"

"That looks like some kind of… time travel machine or alien thingy." She states and a second later she's standing beside his desk. "Am I right?"

"Partially." He can't tell her much, that might ruin the continuum. He's always believed that in time traveling, you should avoid coming in contact with yourself. Telling someone about the fact that you're from a different reality is a little something like that. "Don't you have work?"

She moves back to the couch. "It's my day off—Bernadette's still at work, though. She's actually a bit of a workaholic."

He couldn't care less about that tiny spawn of snide remarks. "How surprising."

"That sounds like sarcasm," she laughs for a moment (he doesn't understand why and ignores it) then sighs happily. "By the way, do you believe in aliens?"

"I do." He closes the panel covering the mainframe and reaches over to work on the hard part; the technology that allowed him to travel to this world. "Do you?"

"Yeah! I think that there are other life forces other than us and find outworld research interesting." He can hear the enthusiasm in the tone of her voice and finds it somewhat amusing. His Penny never cared about space or anything like that. Ever. "I also like to believe that somewhere, in a different universe or something, there are hundreds of different versions of me that did what I didn't do. Do you think that there's another me out there?"

Yes, there is. In one world we're neighbors as well. "Yes. I, too, believe that there are an infinite amount of Sheldons out there, all doing different things. The math even suggests that I'm a clown made of candy in one."

She cracks a smile—her body shaking with refrained mirth—before giving in and laughing loudly. "Ooh! I think I'd like to meet that version of you!" He's slightly offended by her finding this amusing until he sees that she's not teasing him like his Penny would. She's wholeheartedly amused. "I wonder what my counterparts are. Maybe a queen? Oh, or maybe an actress? That'd be nice."

You're actually an aspiring actress in my world, is what he wants to say but instead goes with; "there's truly an infinite amount of possibilities on what you may be. The math tells me that you're a ring master traveling the world."

"That sounds really interesting—" her eyes light up and she turns to him "—hey, do you think that it's possible for a different version of us to meet in another universe?"

He raises an eyebrow at her sudden question, unsure of how to respond, and tries to avoid the answer he has. "Like I said, there's an infinite amount of possibilities on what we may be. We—

— _already met_ —

"—probably met in a few universes. We might even be neighbors." He gives her a shrug, hoping that conversation will finally end and that she will be happy with his answer.

"Neighbors, huh?" She repeats as she taps a finger on her chin, "I like the sound of that. Maybe in that world, you don't make my other version worried that you don't eat like the way you do to me."

There's an odd sense of familiarity in her voice that reminds him of his Penny, but he chooses to shrug it off. They're not the same. "Maybe."

This one is better.

* * *

"Are you an alien?"

He glances up from his PMT and finds Penny standing at his (suddenly open) door with Bernadette scowling behind her back. "Excuse me?"

Bernadette scoffs, marches towards him and drops a paper bag on his desk. "She's asking if you're an alien. That's the dinner Penny forced me to buy for you. Get a life." She scoffs again, sends him a glare then marches straight past Penny towards their apartment.

It's after the door slam that Penny enters his apartment. He's been in this world for nearly  _a month_  now and he can't help but feel frantic. He's made seven versions of the PMT (and currently working on the eight) and none have yet to work. It's hard not to cry and regret ever making the PMT.

"I was asking if you were an alien," a just got back from work Penny asks, looking very professional and un-Penny like in her office attire. She actually kind of looks like she did when he got thrown in jail. That memory seems so far away, now. "I know it's a bit rude, but it's hard to resist asking with all these thingamabobs surrounding your apartment. There's more of them than actual furniture."

His eyes follow her hands as they gesture to his various failed attempts at recreating the PMT. So there were  _nine_  attempts. He can already feel the tears prickling his eyes at the thought of that. "How does those relate to me being an alien?"

She plops down on his couch and shrugs. "It seems like one of those communicator things. Hey, if you're really an alien or something, don't be afraid to tell me. I promise not to report you to the authorities or anything—cause we're friends. I'll even help you get back."

This time, he says exactly what he wants to say. "That sounds rather tempting, but I doubt that you can help me. And this machine is far more advanced than you average television prop. This might win me the Nobel."

"For Physics?" He turns around in shock that she knew. It took his Penny four days before she understood the fact that he wasn't aiming for the Nobel  _Peace_  Prize. Sometimes, he isn't sure if she really doesn't understand what he says or just pretends not to in order to annoy him. This Penny is neither. "That's pretty remarkable. Are you one of those—

— _beautiful mind genius guys?_ —

"—theoretical physicist or one of those experimental physicists? You guys seem to really know your stuff."

He feels his heart drop a little at what she says and he's a bit shocked that he is. This Penny knows what a physicist is and the difference between theoretical physicists and experimental physicists, but somehow, that doesn't impress him as much as his Penny knowing that would impress him. "I'm surprised you know the difference."

She beams up at him. "Well yeah, I was really good at science and I even contemplated whether or not I'd take up astronomy. The universe and the stars really interest me, so that seemed really appropriate. Sadly, I applied to the wrong college and ended up as a paralegal. It's a pretty funny—yet, stupid—story, isn't it?"

An intelligent Penny… not that his is dumb—well, there  _were_  times—but it's shocking to see that the parallel Penny is so… different compared to her. They have the same physical attributes but everything else is different. He had always thought that personalities are the same in every version of someone. "I don't think it's stupid."

Penny gives him a smile that makes him look away. She has been bringing him dinner everyday since he moved in—and, thankfully, Bernadette never joins them. He doesn't understand her need to go out of her way to buy him dinner (he can manage with pizza; the repetition isn't as bad as it used to be) and wait for him to consume it.

It's always like this; she brings him dinner, waits for him to finish a part of the PMT nags him into eating dinner or else he'll get sick, they talk about her world (never about his) and at the strike of nine she goes back to her apartment. It's like a routine of some sort that he didn't choose; but it's easy to fall in with it.

He's actually learned a lot about her during this little routine. This Penny likes to clean (this earns his Penny a strike) and hates being untidy. She loves classical music (Penny considers it boring) but is a fan of music in general. She never met Kurt—or Zack or Leonard—and has never (he thought this hard to believe) had a boyfriend due to her busy schedule.

Oh and she likes Sci Fi; which explains her interest in aliens and makes him conclude that she is definitely an improved version of his Penny.

Once Penny returns to her own apartment, he always finds himself thinking about the difference of his and this Penny. It's hard to think that regardless of the same exterior, nearly everything about them is different. It's like everything he wants to change about his Penny was done here; confirming his theories that not all Pennys in the infinite universes are the same. They might all look the same but they aren't all the same.

He briefly wonders if this applies to all the Sheldons out there as well. He also wonders if all of the Sheldons have met the Pennys of their worlds. If there's a Sheldon in every world that there's a Penny. He still doesn't know if a Sheldon even exists in this world—

— _if his sudden arrival has ruined the chances of this Penny meeting the Sheldon her_ e—

—as he has a feeling that if he even dares to check on the Sheldon here, he will ruin something in the space time continuum. He also has a feeling that he already ruined something by traveling here. Like him ever being able to return to his own time. That still makes him want to cry. "Why are you smiling at me like that?"

She shrugs, still giving him that smile that makes  _something_  inside him flutter. "I don't know. Everyone I've ever told that story to says that that was stupid then laughs at me." He has never really noticed how nice Penny's smile is until now. "You know, you're the first person who didn't laugh at me."

"Did Bernadette laugh at you?" He asks, trying to keep his attention away from her smile by taking the takeout bag and transferring it to the counter. His throat has run dry at the mere action of gazing at her. This is bad.

"She didn't just laugh, she even gave me a two hour lecture on how I was incredibly stupid." He sits on the bar stool, opens his dinner (it's Burger King, eck) then notices that Penny is sitting beside him—

— _she smells like green apple_ —

—and before he knows it, he falls in love.

* * *

Half a month—and sixteen PMT prototypes—later, Penny takes him around the city because; "you can't stay in your apartment forever."

Bernadette opts not to join (she hates him) and he feels unrelieved due to his sudden realization of his impression of her changing from a platonic one to a… something he often tells himself is irrelevant. A month and a half and his opinion on relationships has changed.

They're at Tournament Park, the place where they first met nearly two months ago. It's actually a place that he's very familiar with—he and the others often fly kites here. A good number of Caltech scientists also come here as it is a mere walking distance from the university. "Isn't this the place where you found me?"

Penny takes a seat beside him on the bench and hums, "yep. Bernadette and I met you near the parking area." He catches himself watching her watch a family playing frisbee and shakes his head to clear his thoughts. This may be a day of relaxation, but he can't be distracted—

— _attached_ —

—to anything in this world. Suffice to say, he is getting more and more fond of Penny. It's a feeling that surfaced out of nowhere and something he can't shake off. He's become overly friendly with this Penny and it's getting harder and harder for him to leave if this continues. "I've never really asked what the two of you were doing here that day."

"Ah, well we were actually here to meet some guy that Bernadette met on a dating website," Penny says, her attention drifting to a bright blue kite above them, "but then we saw you and Bernadette cancelled the appointment. It's a shame, though, she seemed pretty interested in the guy. That's probably why she's so mean to you."

Sheldon glances up, sees another kite swoop down and cuts the line of the kite. That scene reminds him heavily of Leonard and the others. It's been a while since he's thought of his friends and can't help but think about them; regardless of their idiosyncrasies. He wonders if they're even doing anything to get him back. "Can't she meet up with him again?"

"She can, but with her pride, she probably won't. Speaking of which. You never did tell me why you were here that day," he stiffens at the question that he's been hoping would never be asked and slowly turns to face her. "I've known you for more than a month yet I know nothing about you. Why is that?"

He can't tell her much, but he can't ignore her question. If he's stuck in this world forever, sooner or later he's going to have to tell her the truth. "I—I'm from a land far away from here… somewhere that's differe—" he feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up to see Penny grinning at him.

"I was kidding," she pats his shoulder then removes her hand, "I'm fine not knowing much. It makes feel like I have my own personal puzzle that I have to crack. And if I find out that you're some sort of alien, I have my own ET!" She bolts from the bench and extends a hand out to him.

"You're really serious on me being an alien, aren't you?" He hesitates in taking her hand but does it anyway, allowing her to pull him up. "Again, I'm not an alien."

She laughs at him as she smooths down her skirt, "but it'd be fun to have my own alien! Then we'd be able to communicate telepathically and take me to your spaceship. If you were an alien, would you tour me around the galaxy?"

He stares down at her hopeful face and sighs; of course he would. "If you promise not to bring Bernadette, I might."

Penny grins, loops her arm with his and drags him away from the bench. "I'd love for her to join, but it  _is_  your spaceship; I gotta respect that. Hey, have you been to Old Town?"

Right as they cross to the other side of the park his attention shifts to a rather noisy conversation between a group of friends—

"—dude! Could you stop chasing after girls and help me? They cut my Petang!"

"I'm sorry! I'm a bit bummed from not meeting this girl… you wouldn't understand."

"Oh, I understand. I understand the taste of victory—this Petang will be perfect for our collection, right buddy?"

"It is—you do know that I can hear you all the way from over there?"

—and it makes him miss his friends.

"—and this is Old Town! I buy a lot of my accessories here," he stops from tuning her out and is shocked to see that they're in that shopping district that Penny loves to go to. Just a moment ago they were at the Tournament Park… how the heck did they get here? "I'm not sure if you like places like these, but nothing wrong with touring you here, right?"

He's been too busy thinking about his world to notice that they already changed locations. Just by listening to those guys talk, he suddenly realized that he doesn't belong in this world, and that he has to get back to his world. "Uh, it's fine. I enjoy sightseeing every now and then." He sends her a small smile and glances around to see a very familiar store across the street.

Penny turns to where he's staring at and tugs on his arm, "oh, I buy stuff there. Wanna go inside?" He wordlessly nods—eyes still glued to the store—and heads over there. He knows this store; this is where Penny's Penny Blossoms were sold. He doesn't understand why he's drawn here, but something told him that he has to check the store.

Much to his surprise, everything is exactly the same between the store in his world and this one. There's still those antique… crap that Penny gushes about; homemade accessories, statues that make no sense and hideous paintings that pretend to be art. Even the shopkeeper is the same—the middle aged brunette (with a few grays here and there) that had blindingly white teeth.

"Welcome to my store—oh, Penny it's you!" She greets, just like she does with his Penny. "What're ya looking for today?"

"Nothing in particular," she claps a hand on his shoulder and pulls him in, "my friend here wanted to look around. He's new."

The shopkeeper scrutinizes him from head to toe before flashing him the same shiny toothed smile that makes him feel as if she recognizes him. "Ooh, a newcomer! Nice ta' meet you. Looking for anything specific?"

For a second, he feels as if the shopkeeper recognizes him from his world. Of course, she doesn't, because she and the Sheldon from this universe has never met. "Um, no, not really. Do you have any suggestions?"

The lady claps her hands together and takes them to the front of the store. "These are the new items I got. They're one of a kind! Take a look around, I just need ta make a call." She leaves while he glances around the various things on the tabl—

—and he sees it; a red Penny Blossom at the middle of the table. He gingerly reaches out to it and picks it up, still questioning if the little flower is real. He rotates it in his hands, making it shine as the light hits the silver colored glitter. After a second of observation, he decides that it really  _is_  the real deal and turns to face Penny who is looking at him with curiosity.

"Hey…" she drags out, eyes darting from his face to his hands, "what do you have here?"

He grins down at her and holds up the plastic flower. This is the first time in a month and a half that he's ever felt  _this_  happy. The stupid little flower may mean little to others, but to him, it's a trinket he keeps in his desk as a reminder of the day that he decided that Penny wasn't as annoying as he originally thought. "Do you remember this?"

Penny raises an eyebrow up at him then to the flower in his hand. "Uh… no, what is it?"

"It's a flower beret!" He happily says, clipping it on her head like she used to do, "can't you remember? You love these!"

She stares up at him in confusion then pulls the beret off of her hair, "no… I don't." She scrutinizes it then laughs. "I doubt that I'd like this—isn't it a bit tacky?"

What? Why wouldn't she like the flower, he thinks as Penny searches through the rest of the other accessories. The Penny Blossom is the symbol of their friendship… well, kind of, if you don't include the Leonard Nimoy signed napkin she got him. It's the first thing that they ever agreed on and the one that Penny—

—is  _not_  this Penny.

In that moment, something inside of him drops and breaks as the truth hits him right in his face. Suddenly, he feels the sadness and the loneliness he's been ignoring ever since he travelled to this dimension. It makes him feel hollow inside as an outcast stuck in a foreign land because—

— _his reality is broken_ —

—he doesn't belong in a world where that the Kardashian person actually has a talent; or where Bernadette is the rudest person he's ever met and isn't married to Howard—or in a world where he has never met Penny. He doesn't belong here or in any other alternate universe where the reality he knows is not real—

—he  _needs_  to get back.

* * *

_[rewind]_

"—how many times must I tell you to stop bothering me?" He pauses in typing the code for his PMT on his laptop and glances at the blonde throwing crumpled paper at him.

Penny blinks, putting on that faux innocent 'why are you looking at me, I didn't do anything wrong' face that he hates. "I just wanna see that toy."

Irritating. Absolutely irritating. Why is she even here at their apartment? Where is Leonard when you need him to distract her? He has no problem with her being in the room as long as she doesn't bother him, that would be fine—but here she is, annoying him even though he already told her not to! "It's not a toy, Penny, it's the Parallel Multidimensional Transporter."

"Yeah, yeah, I know that. I mean, I just wanna try it already! You promised that I could try it out with you once it's done." She pouts and slumps into the desk chair. "Isn't it done, yet?"

He often forgets that there are times when his neighbor is just like a child and he notes that he should remember that whenever she annoys him. This is far from the last time she'll annoy him, he's sure of it. "It is, but I still have to make some minor adjustments."

"Ah."

He nods and returns to punching in the needed code. "Ah, indeed. Stay still and keep quiet while I finish this. Then, we can try it out." He sees her doing a zipping motion over her mouth from the corner of his eye and moves to the next code.

"Actually, one quick question before I shut up—"

"—quickly—"

"—do you think that, in the dimension that we'll visit, we know each other?"

She never listens. "There's an infinite amount of possibilities, Penny, therefore," he turns to face her to give his speech more emphasis, "it's possible. We might still be neighbors in one of them where you might be a serial killer and I the next person you'll kill."

"Great!" She happily says, smiling as she props her feet up on the coffee table and makes him frown at her. She'll never learn. "I think that any version of me will be pretty bored and lonely if she never met you."

"Thanks," he sarcastically says before turning back to his work, "I'm flattered."

"You should be, cause I was serious." He ignores that because she's one big distraction and talking to her has already cost him his precious time. The PMT won't build itself and neither will Penny.

He's in the middle of making a backup algorithm when he remembers to attach a harness on his wrist in case that something bad happens. He bolts from his desk chair and turns to his bored looking neighbor, "I need to get something from my room—will you promise that you won't touch the PMT?"

She shrugs and checks her nails, "no promises."

Why is he even friends with someone like her? He's not supposed to be near someone whose IQ is far from his—but he guesses that he can make an exception. Regardless of her many unpleasant traits (i.e. eating with her mouth full, being a moocher, having the inability to dress properly around others, untidiness etc.) he guesses that she's okay. She's a good friend to him, and she probably won't kill him if he's a zombie—

… probably.

She also sings soft kitty decently, and got him the napkin with Leonard Nimoy's DNA and signature. That was really nice of her. Plus, she acts as a personal (noisy) chauffeur for him every now and then. Oh, and she cares for him, he thinks. Raj often says that that's a good thing, so he considers it as a good thing. He would prefer a common ground of some sort—like comic books or science fiction—but again, he can make an exception.

He grabs the velcro strap that Raj turned into a safety harness and walks out of his room. Excitement and nervousness bubbling at the pit of his stomach at the thought that he would finally get to test out his invention. This is going to be revolutionary, he's sure and he can already smell the Nobel from he—

_CRACK!_

In a split second, he somehow manages to get to the living room to see the PMT on the floor with the LCD screen detached and the wires falling out. "Penny, didn't I tell you not to touch it?!"

Penny looks up at him with worry and he quickly picks the (broken) machine up. "I-it buzzed… I tried to catch it but I was—"

"I told you  _not_  to touch it!" He snaps-slash-shrieks as he gently places the machine on the coffee table. Judging by the crack, it fell screen first which opened the panel. This is  _bad_. "Must you be so deaf to not understand that?!"

"Look, I'm sorry—"

"Why do you have to do the opposite of everything I say? I'm sure that every Penny I'll meet will be as bad as you!"

This is what he absolutely  _hates_  about her—her inability to do as he says. Her constant need to 'mess' with him that leads to breaking his rules time and time again. From sitting in his spot to taking his onion rings to the teasing—it's times like these that he regrets befriending her. His life would be so much better if he hadn't—

— _never had—_

—he wakes up in a cold sweat in the middle of making his final attempt at the PMT.

For three straight weeks, he's been working nonstop on finally creating a PMT that will bring him back to where he belongs. He's been in this world for two months and that is too long for him. He needs to return to his own world; back to his apartment, to his job—

— _to his own Penny_ —

—to where he's supposed to be. He hasn't stepped out of 4B since Penny toured him around Pasadena. He also hasn't seen Penny since that day as he has a feeling that he won't be able to continue perfecting the PMT if he sees her. Penny is distracting, that he knows, but now, he also knows  _why_  she distracts him.

He's already done with this attempt; all he needs is to test it out. He knows—no, he's  _sure_  that this attempt will work. He already knows where he went wrong with his previous tries and has made sure that everything will go right with this one. He can't afford another failed attempt and he can't stay in this world anymore; the longer he stays in this world, the more that he thinks that it will be okay to stay here.

If his ODR (Original Dimension Returner; he couldn't think of another name) fails to work, he already has a set of backup plans. 1. Apply at Caltech as a physicist and use his intelligence to score a job even though he has zero educational background 2. (and this is his less preferred option) forge an educational background and either apply at Caltech or some other university or 3. (his last resort) find his counterpart and ask for help.

He will not consider any other option and has no plan of failing.

To ensure that he does not have to do any of them, he worked day and night to make sure that everything about the ODR is accurate. He has even loss countless amount of sleep but it's worth it if this will allow him to go home. His mother and his Meemaw will be worried if this world and this has the same time frame—he'll either be missing or unconscious and that isn't good.

At around four in the afternoon—right as he sets the activation code on his laptop—someone knocks on his door. "Sheldon? I know you're there. Please let me in, I'm getting worried."

I'm sorry Penny, I have to go back to my own time, please don't bother me, is what he wants to say but simply ignores her. He can't afford to get distracted; regardless of the fact that this is not the Penny he's looking for, he is already too attached to this Penny that he knows that he'll delay this process to cater to what she wants to do. Like eating.

"If it's something I did, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

— _I'm just trying to help you!_ —

—he winces from the memory of his last conversation with Penny and quickly stands from his desk and makes it to his door. He's going to leave this Penny, but that doesn't mean that he wants to hurt her they way he did with the other Penny. He no longer cares if she really did break the PMT, all he wants to do is go home. "Sorry, I was busy—"

Penny quickly steps in the apartment and gasps at his appearance. "Sheldon, you got thinner!" She eyes his sides then his face, "are you even eating? Do you even sleep? What's wrong with you?!"

He doesn't want her to get worried about him but he can't tell her the truth because the truth doesn't make sense—

— _because the truth is a lie in this reality_ —

—and will only make her feel as if he's lying to her. He's realized weeks ago that even though his Penny annoyed him to a great extent, she's the Penny that he wants to be neighbors with. No matter how much he likes this Penny, this is not  _his_  Penny. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I've been very busy."

Penny looks hurt and it makes him regret ever transporting to this universe. "Look… was it something that I said?"

"It's not—"

"Please let me finish," she immediately interrupts, "these past few weeks, I feel as if you don't want to be associated with me. You keep on ignoring me and even Bernadette is worried. The other night, I had a dream of you leaving and I feel that it's going to come true, so I made up my mind and came over here to talk to you."

His throat has run dry due to the discomfort he is feeling with the conversation they're having. She might cry, and he doesn't want to see any version of Penny crying. He can't deal with confrontations and Penny, that's why he prepared something in advanced to avoid this situation. He  _needs_  to get back to his world."What do you want to talk about?"

She takes a deep breath and sighs. "I know this is gonna sound crazy—since we only met two months ago—but Sheldon," here it comes, "I think I'm in love with you and if you're leaving, I don't think I can—"

Mustering up all the confidence he has; he interrupts her, places a hand on each of her shoulders and looks her straight in they eyes to say; "I'm sorry, Penny."

It's not much, but it's something that he should've (wanted) to say to his Penny from the start of their argument and now to this Penny. There's a possibility that he likes this Penny more than just a friend, but he's sure that it's  _his_  Penny that he wants. And he finds it asinine how it took him a Penny from a different universe to understand that. "But there's someone… somewhere I belong to that isn't here."

This Penny blinks up at him, wipes her tears with the back of her hand and sucks in a deep, shaky breath before she chuckles in a way that causes his heart to drop. He didn't even notice that she was crying. "Oh, I figured that you're not from here, I just thought that maybe you were something I've been waiting for."

She takes a small step back as she composes herself and he can hear the way she refrains from allowing the tears to fall. "Maybe you really are an alien and you're returning to where you came from, but… why do you have to go?"

He doesn't want to lie to her—

— _he can never lie to her_ —

—after everything she's done for him. In the past two months, this Penny was the reason why he didn't miss his reality; but she's also the reason  _why_  he wants to return to his. He doesn't want to leave her, but he can't stay here—

— _any version of me will probably be bored and lonely if she never met you_ —

—he just hopes that someday, his counterpart will somehow meet her. He has a feeling that there was a chance of them meeting, but him existing in this time frame managed to block that from happening. Well, that's what the math suggests. "Me being here is ruining the time space continuum and I have to return to where I belong. That's all I can say—sorry."

"Alright, I guess that's what happens when you have your own alien friend," she laughs bitterly, her usual liveliness nowhere to be found. "Oh, but before I go, can I ask you one last favor?"

"Of course, anything."

"Could you close your eyes for a second?"

He's a bit skeptical at what she's asking of him but he does as told. He feels her place a hand on each side of his arms before something as light as feather ghosts against his lips and after a second, he opens his eyes in time to see her rushing towards her apartment—

— _"Penny!"_ —

—and everything is dark and painful and he can't seem to be able to process a coherent thought right now.

"—is he coming to?"

"I knew that I should've done something when the light started flashing!"

"Calm down. He should be back, the timer already went off. It's odd that he set it to two days—must've been a mistake. Good thing his body finally returned."

He slowly opens his eyes to see Raj's face roughly two inches from his face. "Guys, guys! He's conscious!" The astrophysicist exclaims, jumping up from where he was crouching to the others. "He opened his eyes!"

A second later Howard, Raj and Leonard (pathetically) lifts him from the floor to the couch. "Holy crap, Sheldon, what the hell happened to you?!" Howard asks once his body meets the familiar soft and smooth leather of the couch. He can already feel the tears prickling at the corner of his eyes; he can't speak, but he can cry.

"You disappeared for a day, then returned then became unconscious for an entire day," cries Leonard who places a wet cloth on his forehead, "I thought that you were in a coma!" Two months = two days; thank goodness. If he's gone for more than three days he might have been a goner—unless, that was a dream…

No, it wasn't a dream, he's sure. He wouldn't be able to realize where he went wrong if it was just a dream. "P-p… Pen-penny…" he manages to get out as he (painfully) sits up, "need… to talk… to P-penny…"

"Sheldon, you just got out of some sort of coma-slash-disappearing act," Leonard starts as he staggers towards the door. He sees the machine broken at the corner of his eye and feels relieved. It's something he won't do again until everything is right. "You can't just stand!"

"Let him go," he hears Raj tell Leonard as he opens their front door. "There's something he has to do and he probably won't listen to us anyway."

His roommate mumbles something followed by the sound of their door closing. With all the strength he can muster, he knocks on what is his door in a parallel universe and feels the heaviness in his heart disappear.

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock. "Penny."

The door swings open and he is met with a crying Penny. "Hello," he starts as he ignores the guilt he receives from making her cry. "I'm sorry."

"You stupid Whack-a-doodle!" She takes a giant step forward and buries her face in his shirt as she sobs. "I can't believe your were stupid enough to go without me!"

"Well, if you didn't break the PMT, I might not have been gone for two days." He smiles as she steps back to continue the argument—

—and he kisses her.

* * *

_[coda]_

"—I'm sorry for leaving so suddenly, but this is not where I belong. Someday, you might understand why I must go, but for now hold on to this flower for me." Penny hands her the glitter covered red plastic flower that causes Bernadette to scoff. "PS. In one of the worlds, you and I are neighbors and made that flower; it's my favorite memory. That's exactly what he wrote in his letter."

Bernadette snorts and scrutinizes the tacky plastic flower. "He's probably a serial killer and was running away from the feds. I can't believe you fell in love with him."

Penny rolls her eyes and snatches the flower from her roommate, "laugh all you want but I'm sure that—if he really is an alien—he'll come back for me. This flower will remind me of that day."

There is a knock on their door.

"And that's the day that I'll marry Prince William and become the future queen of England," Bernadette hisses before returning to washing the dishes. "Could you get the door? I was doing something, but you just had to read me that dumb love letter."

"I got it," Penny puts the flower in her hair (where Sheldon placed it before) and opens the door. "Yes—"

"Hello, I'm your new neighbor—"


End file.
